Every neighborhood needs a solid spot for Indian, and thanks to the opening of Aroma Indian Bistro, Merchantville residents now have exactly that. The restaurant is casual, an informal spot with tables draped in cream-colored tablecloths and, at lunchtime, a buffet of house favorites.

Aditya and Ashima Sirpal opened Aroma in mid-July, a left-turn from Aditya Sirpal’s professional background in information technology. He grew up a foodie, he says, and it was his dream to open a restaurant, but he credits Ashima with making it happen; “(she]) has been a great supporter in all cases.”

The idea was to showcase variety at their restaurant.

The couple, originally from Punjab, India, believe “Indian cuisine is very nutritious and diverse,” says Sirpal, and the couple thought wanted to introduce that variety to diners in their community. “South Jersey is a very diverse place and people from all communities live here and support each other.“

To assist them taking their first step into the restaurant world they hired a chef with a decade of experience cooking Indian fine dining, and the knowledge to make their curries using only whole vegetables and spice blends that would be prepared in the restaurant itself. They decided on a name for their Merchantville storefront based on this from-scratch principle. Each spice blend that flavors their dishes begins as fresh spices, says Aditya Sirpal, “brought whole to the restaurant and ground in perfect proportions to give the perfect aroma.

“People in South Jersey have a great taste for Indian food, but they are not getting authentic flavor anywhere. This gave rise to Aroma Indian Bistro. We took time to gather all our inherited recipes and decide our menu from them … we went through a whole list of recipes that are famous throughout India and selected the best ones to serve to our clients.”

Similar to other Indian restaurants in the area, Aroma’s menu includes dishes that span the country of India. Chicken Chettinad from Tamil Nadu with onions and coconut; fiery shrimp curry from Goa; and Sham Savera Kofta, spinach and paneer cheese dumplings.

In addition, an entire section of the menu is devoted to dishes made with lamb, mutton, and goat — specialties such as Lamb Seekh Kebab, Goat Biriyani, Mutton Noti Kebab and Lamb Sagwala — dishes less frequently seen in the area than crowd-pleasers such as Chicken Makhani and Palak Paneer, also on the menu.

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Samosa Chat and Cholle Bhatura are appetizer takes on popular street food from Aroma Indian Bistro in Merchantville.(Photo: Joe Lamberti/Staff Photographer)

One dish that I had not previously experienced was Cholle Bhatura ($8.99) “a signature dish of Punjab that is relished by everybody,” says Sirpal. The dish consists of two components served together: a jammy tomato and chickpea curry and warm bahtura, fried flatbreads to dip into it. Though the dish of red-brown curry is not much to look at, the chickpeas are beautifully cooked, creamy and tender, perfumed with the tang of the curry itself. Plus, the appealing stretch and chew of the bhatura make it tempting to dip into it again and again.

Another serviceable appetizer is the Samosa Chaat ($6.99). A restaurant version of a popular street food, it’s a large samosa filled with potato and peas, which is split open and sauced with cilantro chutney, tamarind chutney, yogurt and sev, little crunchy threads made from chickpea flour. It’s a bit of a mess on the plate, layers of different sauces, but that’s also basically the point. The appeal of chaat should represent multiple flavors and sensations at once: crunchy and soft, warm and cool, spicy and sweet, a whizz-bang combination altogether.

Another winner comes from that menu of lamb, goat, and mutton. Aroma’s Lamb Rogan Josh ($14.99) could convince anyone unsure about anyone unsure about lamb to like lamb, and anyone unsure about Indian food to like Indian food. The cubes of lamb are tender and juicy, cooked to the point of succulence, but not so much that they’re falling apart into the sauce. Like a slow cooked ragu, this Kashmiri curry is deeply flavored tomato and the top notes of cinnamon and cardamom in garam masala.

I would I could report that the Goat Biriyani ($14.99) was as much of a success. Visually, it’s pleasant, a pretty mound of rice flecked with orange carrots and topped with a shower of fried shallots, the meat hidden underneath. Though it might appear simple, preparing this rice dish requires patience and skill.

“We make our Goat Biryani ‘Hyderabad Dum’ style,” Sirpal explains, “in which the meat is cooked infused in layers with rice and with just the amount of herbs and spices on an extremely slow flame to get the best juices and flavors out of it.” Cooking the dish this way gives the rice deep, nuanced flavor, but in this version I ate the goat meat itself is tough and under seasoned. The whole dish feels dry and I notice my dinner companions continually passing it over for the Lamb Rogan Josh or the fiery punch of Shrimp Vindaloo ($15.99).

Not for the faint of heart, Aroma’s is a classic vindaloo, a punchy curry that they make by toasting and cooling dried red chili peppers, and then grinding them into a fiery paste with crushed green chilies, garlic and white wine vinegar. For some it will be too much heat by far, but chili-head diners who relish all things spicy and saucy will appreciate that the brick red curry doesn’t pull any punches or dumb things down.

While I think Merchantville neighbors should welcome the restaurant happily, I'm not sure what the restaurant is offers so far is necessarily worth going out of your way for, in light of recent openings of Monsoon in Cherry Hill and Palace of Asia in Maple Shade, as well as the offerings at Indya and Inde Blue in Collingswood.

At Aroma dishes are presented without flourish and service is stiff; efficient, but not warm. One dish we ordered never made it to the table, but did appear on the bill and had to be removed.

Just the same, if I lived in Merchantville, Aroma would go onto my roster of regular restaurants, especially as a consistent take-out option. Now that the weather has grown cold in earnest I’m already craving again the deeply layered flavors and the toasty, warming spices in dishes like that Rogan Josh and Cholla Bhatura.

Come winter, those are aromas I would welcome to my neighborhood.

Emily Teel reviews Philadelphia and New Jersey restaurants for the Courier-Post. An alumna of Bryn Mawr College, she completed a Master of Arts at in Food Culture & Communications at University of Gastronomic Sciences in Parma, Italy. A former restaurant worker, she is happy to celebrate the best of what any eatery has to offer. Read more of her work at emilyteel.com and send questions and suggestions to Emily.L.Teel@gmail.com